A Pariah's Lullaby
by Crescent Blossom
Summary: "Bella, don't you see? No one truly can live forever." How do you deal with a girl torn between two loves? How do you help a girl who has just lost everything in a single moment? What do you do when two wars threaten your entire existence?
1. Prologue

A Twilight/Naruto crossover that has been bouncing around in my head for a long time. Set in the beginning of Eclipse, before anyone is aware of Victoria's army and before Bella's graduation party. This is a slightly different story and I hope you like it; the pairings will most definitely surprise you and I look forward to your opinions and thoughts. ^^

"_**A Pariah's Lullaby"**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Twilight; they both belong to their respective owners! (This applies throughout the rest of the story)**

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><p><strong>Prologue<br>Recommend Song: Hello by Evanescence**

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><p><em><span>Danger<span>. __Run away. __Now!__ The wind whispered its warnings fiercely into Sakura's ear and the seventeen year old forced her fatigued body to press forward. The sound of tortured screams echoed in her mind and the smell of burning flesh seemed to cling to the teenager's sinuses, disrupting her natural sense of smell. Her clothes were dirty and torn, stained in the blood of her friends and family._

'_**Just a little farther,' **__the sound of her Inner's voice gave the distraught pinkette a shred of peace, which was quickly torn asunder when two silhouette emerged from the shadows just a few feet in front of her. Sakura's body froze in place as icy fear gripped the very essence of her being and the wind howled around her viciously, trying to get her to response._

_Run! __Danger! __Death!__ Sakura's body shook visibly in fear and she managed to stumbled back only to trip over a concealed rock, which sent her plummeting onto the cold, hard ground. The two figures stepped forward and tears shamelessly streamed down Sakura's cheeks, which caused one of the figures to scoff in a mixture of annoyance and disgust._

"_Get up, bitch. At least try to put up a fight," a distinctively male voice broke the silence in a crude manner and Sakura balled up her hands into the earth as sobs escaped her lips, uncontrollably. The moon broke free from its prison behind the clouds and Sakura was roughly yanked upwards by her shoulder length pink hair by the crude man._

'_**Fight!' **__Inner Sakura shouted from the recesses of the teenager's mind, but Sakura didn't focus on her Inner's command as she struggled against the man's painfully tight grip on her hair. Her bright green irises clashed with the man's distinctive purple and Sakura weakly tried to pry his hand from her hair._

"_Such a pitiful creature, you are. We'll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of all of you motherfuckers! Chanters, Elementalists, or whatever the fuck you all are called it doesn't matter, because we are going to wipe out your entire existence," the man leaned down close to Sakura so he was merely a breath's away from her._

"_The Purge has officially begun," he whispered in a sadistic tone and his silver hair seemed to glow ominously underneath the moonlight, adding a sense of foreboding to Sakura's already panicked emotions. All around her the wind had gone silent and the haunted cries of her destroyed village soaked into her bones, leaving her feeling entirely alone and terribly vulnerable._

"Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in Seattle, Washington in approximately fifteen minutes. Please remain seated at all time with seat belts fastened, I hope you enjoyed your flight and we hope to see you all soon. Thank you," Sakura awoke with a gasp as the flight attendant made the announcement over the intercom.

'_**It's alright,' **_the voice of her Inner soothed her frazzled nerves and Sakura nervously glanced around the crowded airplane to see if anything had changed from the short nap she had taken.

The woman sitting next to her was diligently reading a magazine oblivious to how shaken up and anxious Sakura seemed to be. The teenager pulled her feet up into her seat and rested her chin on top of her knees as she hugged her legs close to her body in a small attempt at self-comfort. Sakura closed her eyes and took several deep cleansing breaths to calm her nerves, before she reopened her eyes to look out the window.

"From Seattle to Port Angeles and from there to Forks," Sakura reviewed her destination under her breath before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture that shown an older aged man. Sakura traced the outline of the man's face with her finger and she breathed deeply before she turned her attention to look out the window.

"Please," Sakura rested her head against the cool glass, "please, help me find him and allow him to help me," Sakura whispered as she held the picture to her heart and allowed a few tears to slip down her cheeks.


	2. Misery

Here's chapter 1, please read and review! ^^  
>Note: The chapters will progressively get longer as the story goes on.<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Misery<br>Recommend Song: Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke**

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><p>It was dark and rain poured from the sky when Sakura's plane had finally touched down in Sea-Tac Airport. The pink haired teen calmly slung her bag over her shoulder and she cautiously made her way through the crowded airport. Her hair was covered by the hood of her large navy blue sweatshirt so she didn't draw any unnecessary attention to herself.<p>

Sakura stepped out into the rain, her sweatshirt instantly becoming drenched but she didn't seem to mind. Her overly bright green eyes scanned the busy Seattle streets and she trudged down the sidewalk with the intent of finding a suitable hotel or at least a pay phone to call a taxi.

'_**Should have brought a cell phone,' **_Inner Sakura's voice commented and Sakura mentally shook her head in disagreement. Car horns blared loudly and several civilians rushed across the street in hopes of escaping the storm.

'_Cell phones can be traced,' _Sakura reminded her Inner but her train of thought faded when the wind suddenly went still around her. Sakura stood completely still in the middle of the sidewalk as fear became to creep up inside of her.

Danger. The wind was quick to warn Sakura and the pinkette didn't waste any time as she broke into a sprint. The wind whipped around her and she breathed deeply before she allowed her natural influence over the element to overtake her.

Sakura's speed increased exponentially as the wind came to her aid, oxygen circulated faster throughout her body and her heartbeat sped up to match that of a hummingbird's. The wind whipped at her feet lifting her off the ground slightly and giving the teenager a weightless feeling as she continued her mad dash down the sidewalk.

'_**Run faster,' **_Inner Sakura's voice coaxed as a flash of red was seen out of the corner of the pinkette's eye. Sakura's fear turned into full blown panic and she screamed when she felt a hand grab her shoulder, before roughly slinging her into the wall of a building.

'_**Get up!' **_Sakura groaned as she reluctantly complied with her Inner's command and slowly rose to her feet. The wind had cushioned most of her impact with the wall, so the only thing that Sakura would have to worry about was a bruise or two.

Danger! Sakura's breathing came out in ragged gasps as she tried to calm herself, which was proving to be a hard feat to accomplish. Her eyes looked around frantically in hopes of finding her attacker but that too was proving to be unsuccessful.

DANGER! The wind howled viciously in Sakura's ears and the pinkette's world seemed to slow down as her attacker appeared in front of her once again. A woman who was too beautiful to be real with locks of long, curly, brilliant orange hair that mimicked fire and ruby red eyes that practically glowed with bloodlust smiled at Sakura and tears filled the teen's eyes at an alarming rate.

"NO!" she screamed and the wind roared in her ears as it violently shoved the woman away and swirled around the pinkette ominously. The woman landed in a crouch with feline grace as her expression twisted into a snarl. The woman hissed at Sakura once before she disappeared into the night as if she had never been there.

'_**Calm down, Sakura. The crazy redhead is gone, no one is going to hurt you,' **_Inner Sakura aimed to console her other half with comforting words and Sakura released a shaky breath before she slowly leaned her back against the wall of the building and slowly slid down to the wet concrete. Her hood had slid from the top of her head when she had been thrown against the building and her pink hair now stuck to her face in neck, but she didn't care.

Safe. Strong. Protect. The wind also sought to comfort the distressed teen and Sakura's body shook with a mixture of cold and emotional turmoil. Tears continued to stream down the girl's cheeks and she drew her legs up to her chest, before she rested her forehead on her knees.

"I can't do this…!" Sakura's words came out in a choked sob as her body continued to shake and tremble. She lifted her head from her knees and frantically rubbed her eyes to stop her tears, but her effort was in vain.

"I don't…..I don't want to live this way….!" The rain continued to pour down on Sakura's body and the teen looked up at the cloudy, starless sky allowing the rain to mix with her tears. The rain could wash away her tears, but it would never be able to wash away her pain and for that reason, Sakura would always have tears for the rain to wash away.

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><p>Bella has developed a strange habit of pretending. She would pretend that there wasn't a deranged vampire out there trying to kill her. She would pretend that Edward wasn't pressuring her into marrying him. She would pretend that her relationship with Jacob wasn't complicated and filled with so many draining emotions. She would pretend that her life was simple.<p>

"Bella, are you okay?" the sound of Edward's musical voice brought Bella out of her reverie and she turned her attention to the Adonis-like vampire. She found herself drowning in his intense gaze, before she quickly turned away.

"I want to see Jacob," she spoke simply and Edward closed his eyes as he sighed in a mixture of weariness and exasperation. They had discussed, leaning more towards argued over, this particular topic many times and Edward wasn't looking forward to having it again.

"No. It's dangerous," Edward's voice was firm and Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his comment. Dangerous? Hadn't he been the one to call her a 'danger-magnet' in the first place?

"Edward, I used to spend all day down at La Push. It's not dangerous at all," Bella intentionally decided to leave out the park where Paul had been ready to tear her to shreds at one point, but then again she had justifiably provoked him.

"Werewolves are unstable creatures, Bella. Sometimes, the people near them get hurt. Sometimes they get killed," Edward replied back in a smooth tone and Bella frowned before she grew quiet, an image of Emily's scarred face flashed in her mind.

Bella pretended that Edward's comment wasn't hypocritical. She pretended that Edward and Jacob didn't want to tear each other limb from limb. She pretended that she didn't feel the need to constantly pretend.

"Bella," Edward's soft voice called out to her and she felt his icy fingers underneath her chin, guiding her to look at him. She pretended that she didn't compare his icy caress to Jacob's burning touch.

"Jacob won't hurt me," Bella altered her original comment and Edward's eyes darkened slightly, before he released another agonized sigh. Bella pretended that Edward didn't always try to control her decisions.

"You don't know that Bella," he argued back and Bella pulled herself free from his grasp, before rose from the spot where she had been sitting on her bed. She pretended that Edward's words didn't offend her.

"I know him better than you do Edward. I know Jacob would never hurt me," she replied back as she stared down at his perfect form on her bed and she absent-mindedly noted that his pristine clothes clashed terribly with her purple comforter. Bella pretended that she hadn't just lied through her teeth.

Bella and Jacob had a vicious cycle going on at the moment. She was hurting him by choosing Edward over him and he in return was unintentionally hurting her by avoiding her. Their once strong friendship seemed to be handing by a very thin thread. Edward stared up at Bella and with a fluid grace that only vampires could possess he stood up and pulled her into his arms.

"Bella, you have to understand that your safety is of the upmost importance to me. I will never forgive myself for leaving you, if I had never left….you wouldn't feel the need to risk your life to comfort a _dog_," Edward whispered in her ear and Bella visibly flinched at the derogatory term that Edward had used to describe Jacob, it sounded crueler coming from Edward's velvet tone.

"It's no your decision to make, Edward. I'm going to see Jacob," Bella replied in a firm tone and Edward pulled back to stare at her with a serious expression on his face. Bella pretended that wasn't arguing over her legal rights as a person.

"I'm not letting you go," Edward replied without missing a beat and a frown marred Bella's face, before she ran her hand through her brunette hair in her ever growing aggravation.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, I'm really tired. We'll just have to agree to disagree," Bella voice came out in a sigh as she returned to lie back down on her bed. She didn't say anything when Edward moved to lie down beside her or when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. Bella merely closed her eyes and pretended that she didn't have to pretend.

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><p>It took a lot to make a vampire panic, especially one that was gifted such as Alice. Seeing into the future, no matter how limited, always managed to assure the pixie-like vampire that things would work out. However, the future is always changing. Alice stared into empty space in the middle of the forest, her onyx colored eyes glittering underneath the moonlit sky.<p>

It was a mere second that felt like hours, before Alice returned to herself and a great pain struck her undead heart. She covered her mouth in her silent horror as she took in unnecessary breaths, trying to find some way to release the tears that she could no longer cry. Jasper appeared beside his wife instantly having felt her horror and distress, and he began to send out soothing waves of calm.

"N-no, don't Jas. Please don't," Alice's voice was quiet but she spoke at a speed that normal humans wouldn't have been able to understand. Jasper pulled her into his arms and murmured soft reassurances, but Alice merely shook her head.

"Jas, I had a vision. Oh god, it was about Bella," Alice's voice was choked with emotion and her body stood too still in her lover's arms. The scenes of the vision replayed in her mind like a silent film.

"I saw Edward killing Bella, Jas! It wasn't an act of mercy or a slip up. Jasper, he was enjoying it," Alice's voice trailed off as Jasper tightened his hold on her and Alice began to chatter senselessly.

"Maybe, it was a mistake. I mean, Edward loves Bella and he would never purposely hurt her. I mean, it could be that something is altering the vision," Alice began to rant off excuses and Jasper merely listened.

"Besides, even if the vision were true, which I pretty sure it isn't. Edward probably had a reason for his actions," Alice defended her brother and Jasper raised one of his eyebrows in response. Justifiable murder? That's ridiculous, murder is murder. At least, that was how Jasper viewed it.

"Oh, but I have to find some way to distract Edward and keep him from seeing this vision. It will devastate him," Alice continued to speak, so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't realize that Jasper had released his hold on her.

Edward had a nasty habit of invading peoples' minds, therefore their privacy, just because he had the ability too. Jasper hated it and so every time the mind reading vampire tried to invade his mind, he would think of nothing but the countless battles that he had participated in which was enough to repel the mind reader.

"It's settled, I'll just keep my mind so occupied that Edward won't be able to see the vision. See, problem solved," Alice seemed to cheer up at her quick termination to the solemn vision. Sometimes, Alice was too simple in Jasper's opinion.

The problem was nowhere near solved, if anything Alice had just avoided it entirely. She had put Edward up on a pedestal where he could virtually do no harm in her eyes; it annoyed Jasper to no end. Not because he was jealous of the other vampire, because he surely wasn't, but because Edward was a spoiled brat that believed he could have everything he wanted.

"Come on, Jas. Let's finish our hunt and head back," Alice grabbed a hold of the empathic vampire's hand and lead him deeper into the forest. Jasper allowed the pixie-like vampire to lead him along as he thought over what she had just said.

For a vampire, there was only black and white. Food or not food. Kill or be killed. Live or die. There were no shades of grey and the false humanity that the Cullens insisted on portraying to the humans for appearances was starting to grate on Jasper's nerves. Being a vampire was tough, that much was true but being a vampire that pranced around disguised as a human was madness.

Alice abandoned Jasper's hand when she caught scent of a deer a few yards away, but Jasper didn't seem to notice. It didn't make a difference if she held his hand, if she kissed him, if she told him that she loved him. Jasper felt that Alice did hold some degree of love towards him, but it was nowhere near as potent as he had felt from other mated couples.

They hunted together and once they had their fill of the precious blood that sustained them, the two vampires began their journey back to the Cullen's house. Alice chattered on endlessly about one thing or another, Jasper only half listened as he focused on the facts of his life. Alice loved him, but not as much as she loved being able to play human.

"Jas when we get back to the house, let's go shopping. It'll be so much fun! I should invite Bella, she loves shopping and lets me help pick out her clothes," Alice excelled in the ability of having one sided conversations with herself. Bella hated shopping, Jasper knew that and Alice was too oblivious or rather simple minded to notice. For instance, she never noticed that Jasper hadn't spoken up verbally the entire trip.


	3. Turbulence

Here's chapter 2, please read and review! ^^  
>Note: The quotes are from the book, Atonement by Ian McEwan. They are not my own, but I do suggest you read that amazing book.<p>

**Chapter 2: Turbulence  
>Recommend Song: Closer by Kings of Leon<strong>

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><p>Jacob was running. The woods moved around him in a blur as he pushed his muscles beyond their limits. He was at war within himself, the man against the wolf. Despite the fact that Jacob had not imprinted on Bella, the wolf still yearned for her presence as did the man, the only difference being is that the man respected Bella's wishes and wanted her to be happy.<p>

The wind whipped against Jacob's russet fur and he mentally sighed when he felt presence of another pack member up ahead. Jacob slowed to a stop as he came upon the sole female member of the pack; Leah Clearwater. The copper skinned woman stood in front of Jacob with a spare pair of shorts in her hands with a look of annoyance on her face.

Jacob reluctantly phased back and pulled on the shorts, neither him nor Leah being affected by his nudity. Leah crosses her arms over her chest, her short black hair shuffling lightly in the breeze around them.

"It's that leech-lover, isn't it? I don't know why you keep allowing her to hurt you, she isn't worth the effort," Leah's words were sharp and precise, which caused Jacob to ball up his hands into fists.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Leah. I love Bella and I'd do anything for her," Jacob replied in a firm tone to which Leah's expression turned bitter and full of loathing, towards whom was not known.

"She doesn't love you, Jacob. Not like you love her, she proved that when she chose to go after that leech!" Leah snapped and Jacob glared at her as his body began to tremble lightly.

"She does love me! She just doesn't see it and I'm willing to wait forever for her to realize it! This is none of your business Leah, so stay out of it!" Jacob retorted and Leah glowered at him before she shook her head.

"You're deluding yourself, Jacob!" Leah retorted before she was forced to take a step back when a vicious snarl ripped itself from Jacob's throat. The two shape-shifters glared at each other before Jacob began to walk away, disregarding Leah.

"You're just as fucked up as I am Jacob, and the sad thing is that you don't even notice," Leah's voice low, but clear and it stopped Jacob right in his tracks. A long silence stretched between the two, neither moving nor speaking.

"You're wrong, Leah. I'm nowhere near you're level of issues, because unlike you," Jacob's words were coated in ice and it took everything within Leah not to outwardly flinch at his tone.

"I actually have a chance of being with Bella," Jacob finished in a dark tone before he walked off, leaving Leah standing in the middle of the forest trembling violently.

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><p>Another hole was forming within Bella's chest, this one much worse than the previous one. This hole was deeper, more potent almost as if it were festering inside her chest where her heart was suppose to be. Bella was plagued by vicious nightmares that usually left her waking up crying and sweating; each time Edward would pull her into his arms and ask her what was causing her distress, each time she would lie and say she was fine.<p>

Bella sat curled up in her seat as she read through the pages of 'Atonement by Ian McEwan', the eighteen year old glanced out at the window only to see that it had begun to rain and she frowned slightly before she redirected her attention back to the book.

_"She raised one hand and flexed its fingers and wondered, as she had sometimes before, how this thing, this machine for gripping, this fleshy spider on the end of her arm, came to be hers, entirely at her command. Or did it have some little life of its own? She bent her finger and straightened it. The mystery was in the instant before it moved, the dividing moment between not moving and moving, when her intention took effect. It was like a wave breaking. If she could only find herself at the crest, she thought, she might find the secret of herself, that part of her that was really in charge."_

Bella looked down at her own hand as she flexed her fingers one at a time, each of them belonging to her yet at the same time they didn't. Bella jumped slightly when a colder, paler hand sudden made contact with her own and she looked up to meet Edward's topaz gaze. Edward gave her a charming smile and Bella could only give him a slight awkward one in return.

"Hello, love. I hope all has been well with you," Edward's enticing voice echoed through Bella's mind allowing her thoughts to conjure up various ideas and images at a speed that left the brunette slightly disoriented.

"Edward," Bella breathed out his name in nothing more than a whisper and Edward's smile grew wider before he pulled the young woman into his in a tight embrace, not enough to hurt her but tight enough for Bella to know that she wasn't going to be moving any time soon.

Bella closed her eyes and relaxed into Edward's cold embrace, pretending that instead she was being embraced a familiar, fiery heat that left her feeling safe and content. Edward was speaking to Bella but she found it hard to focus on his words as her thoughts took her into an entirely different direction from what she was prepared for.

_Warm heat surrounded her like a cocoon and a kiss on the side of her neck felt like she had been injected with a jolt of electricity. Hands roamed freely, never controlling or manipulating, merely worshipping. Soft murmurs were whispered against her skin inch by inch, kissing, caressing, nuzzling, and loving. Nothing was rushed; time had stood still for this moment._

Bella didn't open her eyes when she felt Edward slowly lower his lips to her, nothing more than a gentle brush and Bella wrapped her arms around Edward's neck responding not a second later. The vampire sighed in content against Bella's lips when he felt her eager response and he cupped her chin, tilting her head up for a better angle as he continued to kiss her.

_The kiss was pure passion and Bella was drowning in it. Her hands gripped broad shoulders and she felt as if the Earth had been tilted off its axis. The kiss was fire, it was heady and sensual; there was nothing 'careful' about it. Hands gripped her hips tightly and held her close; Bella wanted nothing more than to become one with the heat source. She wanted to burn._

Edward pulled back when a soft moan escaped Bella's lips and his eyes turned a solid onyx color as lust threatened to shatter his self-control. Bella was panting softly as she slowly opened her eyes to face the vampire in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I lost control," she spoke in a breathless tone and Edward shook his head at her, before he placed a light kiss on her forehead. Bella shivered slightly at the cool feel and Edward gave her a small smile.

"It's alright, love. But, I'm afraid I must take my leave now. I will return later," Edward relayed to Bella before he gave her one more kiss and disappeared from her sight, as if he hadn't ever been there.

Bella stood in the middle of the room for a few more minutes before she returned to her seat where her book was faithfully waiting for her. Bella thought back to the passage she had read in the book and she shook her head at the irony. Her body was her own and yet she did not have ownership of it, the Cullens did namely Alice and Edward. Alice used her as a human dress up doll and Edward used her as the fragile girlfriend, who would do anything for him.

Bella felt the hole in her chest expand a bit more and she let out a pained cry, not seeing the point in hiding her anguish when she was alone. Tears trailed down her cheeks and dripped onto the pages of 'Atonement', but one passage in particular caught the young woman's attention through her agony.

_"The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse. Her reverie, once rich in plausible details, had become a passing silliness before the hard mass of the actual. It was difficult to come back."_

Bella closed the book and laughed. Her laugher was borderline hysterical, before finally it turned into loud, unattractive sobs. The pain pulsed deep within Bella's chest, almost as if it were a living thing and she grasped at where her heart was. Reality was such a hard thing to return to, especially when there was nothing worth coming back to.

Bella liked pretending. Pretending meant that she could alter reality in her mind in any way she saw fit and no one could tell her that she was wrong. Bella rested her head on the arm of the chair and she idly traced designs in her faded jeans, the tears wouldn't stop coming. She pretended that while she had been kissing Edward, that she hadn't been fantasizing about Jacob.

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><p>"<em>Sakura, look what I can do!" five year old Ino called out to her best friend as she squatted down on the ground and scrunched up her child-like face in serious concentration. Sakura crouched down beside Ino and her bright green irises widened in astonishment as a small flower bud began sprout from the previously undisturbed earth.<em>

"_That's so cool, Ino! How'd you learn to do that!" the pinkette exclaimed in excitement and Ino stood up before she placed her hands on her small hips and grinned in pride, ignoring the light sheen of sweat that covered her forehead. _

"_My Daddy taught me. He said that now that I know my elemental affinity is Earth that I can begin to attend the Academy soon!" Ino boasted in a cheerful tone and Sakura hopped up with excited look on her face._

"_You have been blessed by the spirit Terra, you are so lucky!" Sakura rocked back and forth on her heels before she looked up at the sky. "I wonder what mine will be. Grandma told me that my affinity will make itself known soon and I can't wait!" _

The remnants of Sakura's dream echoed in her mind as she opened her eyes to a dimly lit hotel room. Sakura could hear rain outside and she glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside her bed which proved her theory that it was in fact morning. The pinkette sat up with a groan and she winced at the soreness of her back from last night's encounter with a nightmare.

Sakura had only changed out of her sweatshirt and shoes last night, before she promptly passed out from emotional and physical exhaustion. The seventeen year old quickly stripped down to her bra and panties wanting to rid herself of her itchy and uncomfortable clothing. She sat on the edge of the bed and opened her duffle bag, shuffling through her few articles of clothing until she finally found something that made her comfortable.

"Only enough money to last the rest of this month," Sakura spoke dully under her breath as she replaced money into an envelope and put it back into the duffle bag. She reached down and pulled out a plain white box that could have been mistaken for a first aid kit.

Sakura opened the box and inhaled deeply when the smell of herbs hit her nose. She reached inside and pulled out three packets that contained were labeled, 'Valerian', 'Passiflora', and 'Hops' respectively. Sakura pulled a small, thin slip of paper from the box and opened each of the packets before she sprinkled a bit of each herb onto the paper to form a line in the middle.

'_**Don't you think that Hops and Valerian will be enough without adding the Passiflora?' **_Inner Sakura spoke up from the recesses of Sakura's mind and the seventeen year old merely shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I have a feeling that I'll need the Passiflora more than the Hops and Valerian combined," Sakura replied in an even tone as she rolled up her herbs. She placed the packets back into the box and put the box back into her duffle bag. Sakura opened the drawer of her nightstand in search of a lighter or matches, the latter of which she found.

The match ignited without much of a hassle and Sakura lit her blunt before quickly extinguishing the match. She took a long drag and sighed in relief as the familiar herbs infiltrated her system and set her mind at ease. She scooted back on the bed so she was leaning against the headboard and pulled the blunt away from her lips, so she could release the excess smoke.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Sakura's question seemed to echo in the quiet room with nothing but the rain as a nearly inaudible background noise. The room had a smoky haze circulating around it and Sakura felt tears burn her eyes, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

'_**I don't want to die,' **_Inner Sakura's reply was soft and subdued so unlike her normal confident and strong tone. Sakura took another drag from the blunt and geld it until it practically burned a hole through her lungs.

"I guess that's what it comes down to….the will to live…" Sakura sniffled as a few tears dripped from her chin and fell onto her bare skin. She could feel the effects of the herbs slowly begin to kick in and she smiled sadly.

'_**You don't want to die either,' **_Inner Sakura commented and Sakura laughed out a sob, as she finished off the blunt and placed it in an ashtray. The pinkette stood up and the clothes that she would be wearing before she headed towards the bathroom.

"I'm not so sure about that anymore," Sakura whispered in a broken tone before she set her clothes down and turned on the shower. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, a ghost of her former self. She removed her undergarments and stepped into the scalding water, hissing at the heat but otherwise enduring it just as she was forced to do every day.

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><p>It was lust. It was obsession. It was pure insanity. Blood splashed across his face and a maniacal grin appeared on his face as he continued to hack pieces from the already mutilated corpse. His partner watched from the shadows not moving to intervene, he knew better than to disturb the other man when he got this way. The man's strange weapon dripped with the victim's blood before it clattered noisily onto the ground as the man stood back to admire his handiwork.<p>

"That felt damn good," the white haired man spoke as he smeared the poor victim's blood across his face and his partner made a disgusted sound in the back of their throat. The man who stepped out of the shadows could easily be mistaken for a patchwork doll from the amount of scars he had on his body, but his bloodied partner ignored him.

"That was entirely uncalled for and Pein will not be pleased. We are searching for the girl, it would be best if you remember that the next time you feel one of your 'urges' coming," the dark skinned patchwork man spoke in a gruff tone and Hidan turned towards him with his purple eyes flashing in a mixture of annoyance and anger.

"Fuck you, Kakuzu!" Hidan snapped and Kakuzu waved off the irritated man before he kneeled down in front of the barely recognizable corpse. He placed both of his hands flat down on the ground and watched in a look of boredom on his face as the ground opened up and swallowed up the body, before closing and returning to its previously undisturbed state.

Kakuzu stood up and looked down at his arm as a deep slash appeared with no prior warning. Hidan collected his weapon from the ground before watching in distaste as Kakuzu pulled a spool of black thread from his pocket along with a needle and began to wordlessly sew up his cut. Hidan strapped his Triple-Bladed Scythe to his back and waited with very little patience for Kakuzu to finish.

"Why the fuck is it so hard to find one little bitch? I mean, it's not like she's not hard to spot with her unusual features" Hidan suddenly spoke up and Kakuzu didn't bother to look up from his sewing.

"The girl knows she is being hunted. She's probably taking extra precautionary measures to stay off the radar," Kakuzu pulled the thread through his skin with little difficulty, "But, it's not like it matters, she'll be dead soon enough."

"Still, the little bitch caught me off guard the last time. I never expected that she would be able to call forth two elements. It takes years to master one," Hidan growled out and Kakuzu rolled his eyes as he finished up his sewing.

"Quit your whining, Hidan. It was your fault she got away in the first place so shut up," Kakuzu spoke in an irritated tone and Hidan glared at him, before she stalked towards the dark skinned man ominously.

Kakuzu's pale green eyes narrowed in warning and Hidan responded with a dangerous smirk. The two stood a few feet away from each other as a cool breeze drifted between them.

"**That is enough," **a dark voice broke the silence as a figure slowly began to emerge from the ground. Yellow eyes stared at Hidan and Kakuzu who seemed unaffected by the person's sudden arrival.

"What the fuck do you want, Zetsu?" Hidan's crude response was answered by a sharp blow to his stomach that knocked him against a nearby dumpster. Kakuzu shook his head at his partner's idiocy before he turned his attention back to the bi-colored man.

"**You two are required back at the base," **the dark half of Zetsu stated in a serious tone and Kakuzu only nodded his head while Hidan released a stream of vehement curses towards Zetsu as the he disappeared back into the ground.

"I hate that fucking bastard!" Hidan growled out in anger as he brushed kicked the dumpster off of him from when Zetsu had knocked him against him. Kakuzu didn't acknowledge his partner as he turned to walk out of the shady alleyway.

"Let's go," was all the dark skinned man said as he disappeared from the dark alley and walked into the early morning light, leaving Hidan no choice but to follow after him.


End file.
